The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-08-10
THE CHURCH At WORK.
THE METHODIST DISTRICT CONFERENCE
AT NINETY-SIX.
NOTES. Of the business Which this Re-
iigious Body Transacted, and Some
of the Names Of Those Who Took

The clouds lifted encnuraSingly last W ed
nestluy us the delegates and members OF the
Cokesjury District Con ference began TO he set
down by the cars of the e.. & e. f. K. i'll the
beautiful and thriving little town of Ninety
Six. This of Itself was cheering indleatiom; lion,
Nncty-SiX Is a pleasant town, In very
thriving condition; business on q firm basis,
and live, energetic men are pushing 1T Tor all
that there Is In 1t.
new, and for the most part handsome. There
are some beautiful brick stores that carry q
remarkably nice line OF goods for the c0un-
oriitc a comfortable appearance, and Ia filed
with intelligent people, whose hospitality Is
simply splendid. r.-
Tie Introductory sermon of the Conference
was preached on Wednesday night 10 large
and very attentive audience by Rev. z. b.
Jackson, Of Abbevile.
FIRST DAY.
On Thursday morning at half past nine
O. clock Bishop w. w. Duncan, ID. D., called
the Conference TO order. After religious ser
vices conducted by the Bishop the roll lswrs WAS
sentatlon responded to their names.
Rev. ]. G. Chandler was elected secretary OF
the body, with B. J. Rouknight as assistant,
The following committees = were appo'nhbea Leo
w. p. Mcadors. and Thos. G. Llpscomb.
On Tcmrerance-Revs ]. l. Stokes, e. II;
Priiehard, r. =. DagnaI, J;M; Rush,ton' and
Capt. J, T. Parks and w: v: ClnKscaies. Innis Revs
NJ. NJ. Brabhnm. w. $. Martin, w. A. Clarke
f. Auld, and J. NJ. Gambrell, P. j.. Sturkey, f.
+ McSwain, d. NJ. Langiord.
The Conference was then soon ready lot
work. It had not been at work more than
ten minutes before they discovered that Bish-
op Duncan held firm reins, and possessed the
ability and courage to get below the gloss OF
things and find the bottom facts. This was
the first time that he had ever presided In
any Conference In this District, and naturally
curiosity as 10 his methods was ut high tide
1t was satisfied.
the spiritual and financial interests OF the
church in this District. Two things were
brought out in the progress OF the examina-
lion:
ist. The great and good work done by the
Methodist church In the bounds Of the Dis
trict in the lust twelve months
End The great amount of work yet to be
done. Enough has been accomplished to give
great encouragement Enough remains TO De
done to en- list the energies and spring the zeal
of every man In The church.
The outlook Is very encouraging. aiIhousn
q superficial hearing of the reports wou u pro-
duce the impression that the church was
about to get in the ditch. The explanation Is
this: Bishop Duncan just beats any man
out all the facts that need surgical treatment
When he gets through with case 1t Is thor
oughly diagnosed.
The following, figures, however, show that
the church Is still alive and progressing. Last
year the membership OF the church for this
district aggregated 4,S26. The reports for this
year show live membership Of 5.56S. This
Shows clear gain of 742 members in the last
twelve months.
The work OF the Conference for this day was
EN- minently satisfactory. Rev. q. H. Pritchurd,
OF Donalds. In the morning, ana Kev. @ w w.
ming, preached very interesting sermons. the
attendance on these services, rs well as on the
regular sessions Of the body, was very large
and apparently very nppreciatve: SeTerai ,o'a
ti,nr I.,lcf nj visitors
ent parts of the State came In during the day.
The Conference roll showed by this time n
splendid attendance, with the exception OF
those parts OF the country where the recent
floods have held high carnival.
SECOND DAY.
The second day opened finely. the attend.
unce upon the morning session was good. and
the body went whole hands and heart into
hard days work. The work Of this day was
very hard, but was cnrried forward with zeal
and energy that bespoke fine interest upon
the part OF all.
The Sunday school and missionary Interests
together with the literature OF the church and
the Southern. Christian Advocate, the official Or
gan of the Methodist church in this Stale,
were reported on and discussed.
The Sunday school interest was very prop:
erly regarded by this body as one OF the vital
interests OF the church, and one upon which
the future welfare Of the church very largely
depended. The reports upon this topic were
exceedingly encouraging. All over the Dis
trict at every church there are good schools
and usually in fiourishing condition.
The missionary opening on the Georgia side
of the District called for earnest md immedi.
ate work. 1t was carefully looked into and
Immediate steps were taken 10 push the inter-
ests OF the church into this region.
Rev. w. u. Kirkland, editor OF Southern
Christian Advocate, represented that paper be-
fore the body. His representation was clear
condition, having a cash IAN important thing)
subscription list of 4,s00, ar able corps OF con-
tributors, the best, perhaps, of any similar pa
per in the South q first class editor and a com
petent business publisher. An effort Is being
made, with quite good prospects Of success TO
carry the subscription list to 5000 by the last
The preaching of to-day was done by Rev.
and Rev. w. ID. Kirkland at night. Both SER
mons were good and made fine impression
upon the audience.
THIRD DAY SATURDAY.
This was the most important day of the ses-
sion. All other interests OF the church, not
~ discussed. Before this Rev. Samuel Lam
der, D. D.. Of Williamson Female College.
Rev. o. A. Darby. d. D., of Columbia Female
College, and Prof. A. Coke Smith. OF Wofford
College, had arrived. These gentlemen repre-
sented the interests Of their respective Col
leges with good effect.
Prof. Smith was especially happy IN his ad-
by the church with telling effect. Those Of
Your readers who have been fortunate enough
TO hear Prof. Smith will understand how the
dress collection was raised to purchase the
old Female College ut Spartanburg, now
known as the Oliver property, for the purpose
of establishing a fitting school for Wofiord
College Over 81 ,10O was raised for this pur-
pose. Perhaps the amount from the other
parts OF the State will aggregate over ten
times this much. 1t Is good idea and the
au uthorities expect to have the buildings thor
oughly repaired soon and in short time the
school Is to he started. The Idea Of the school
as above intimated, is to prepare for the re.
ception Of such students as are not qunlihetd
to enter the College proper. This IL u long felt
need and the Methodists Of this State are do
ing wisely in thus preparing feeder to the
College. Prof. Smith told your correspondent
Frightening He also told me some other
things about the College, very flatterlng,
which wish felt at liberty to publish. This
much Is certain, WotiOrd College Is surely on
rising ground. Let her friends take courage.
The other two Colleges are doing we'll. The
one at Columbia finds 1t necessary to enlarge
the building and prepare for more students
At the last session ii was crowded, and the
trustees see now the necessity OF enlarge
ment Altogether, educational institutions
OF the Methodist church in this State are
looking up with bright faces. Christian edu-
cation is the great bulwark OF the church In
this age and in this country.
The evening hour was devoted 10 public
worship. Rev: o. A. Darby, D. D., preached
uCauLlIul uuu ~ mho "ohIbS
of the man and Of the position he fills.
Late Saturday afternoon the Conference
proper adjourned TO meet next year In Able.
willie. Everybody felt that the session had
been very profitable. Bishop Duncan knows
what District Conference Is, and he knows
how to get all there is in 1t out, and he does
1t, too.
the rains. Bishop Duncan preached at ii
o'clock in the Methodist church, Rev. A.
Coke Smith was to preach at the same hour
In the Baptist church, but the rain prevented.
Quite good little congregation came through
the rain To hear the Bishops sermon. II was